Christmas!!!

I held a Jingle Bell Jog- just a 1 miler around our neighborhood. Here we are all decked out ready to run!

This is us in our Christmas PJs from "the Elf" on Christmas Eve.

Mom & Dad's stockings. :)

Our Christmas tree- with all the presents [it always ends up being more than we plan]!

Serra not believing her eyes when she sees what Santa brought her [even though she made sure to tell every Santa she saw- and anyone else who would listen that she wanted a Barbie castle]!

Alex playing with his toy from Santa.

Alex was much more excited that he not only got candy from Santa, but Mommy & Daddy were going to open it for him and let him eat it BEFORE breakfast!

Serra got a new dry erase writing tablet- and the first thing she wrote was her name!

Ian's sister, Lorie, got married on the 30th and so we drove down for the wedding in LA.

[I designed the cake- I was given a picture of the ribbon style she wanted and a huge pile of ribbons and this is what I came up with!]

Serra fractured her right elbow and was in a splint and sling for the wedding pictures... AWESOME!!! Now she has a red cast- too bad we didn't have it for the wedding as it would have actually matched!

December Minus Christmas

Alex is our crazy meat-lover... above he's enjoying a burger and below he's helping Daddy grill some steaks!

Above, we went to Chick-fil-A to ride the free cow train ride... apparently we were the only ones aware of the promo! Below, Serra is all decked out for her preschool Christmas party.

We went to see about 5 different Santas- the one at Harmon's was probably the best.

We also went to the Festival of Trees and Serra had LOTS of fun... she got a candy cane tattoo...

AND her nails painted...

AND helped us find a superhero display to show Alex...

AND managed to find a Christmas tree display with all of the Disney princesses on it!

We attempted to make gingerbread houses this year- this is as far as mine got:

Ian did a little better...

Alex's was made and then quickly demolished.

Serra's was probably the best- and the most enjoyed. :)

Merry Christmas to All

One of Serra's favorite phrases right now is, "Merry Christmas to all!" and she uses it as a sort of goodbye to people when we leave- instead of just "Merry Christmas!" It's really cute- but the cutest thing, I think, is when she sings "Mr. Grinch" which I have yet to get on tape. But anywho... I just wanted to take a minute to post some pictures we took with our Christmas tree- and to wish all of our loved ones a VERY merry Christmas- wherever you are! We love you, wish for you to enjoy your holidays, and hope to see you sometime next year!

November!

Now that it's halfway through December, I'm finally blogging about November- I promise I won't be this late for December's pictures!

Serra and Alex loved the train in the South Towne Center Mall- it's now Serra's favorite mall [they also have a carousel that we rode].

We went on a "date" with just Serra and were lucky enough to plan our date on a night that there were FREE carriage rides at the Riverwoods Shopping Center- Serra got to be a princess!

The kids and I have an annual membership at the Living Planet Aquarium- Serra took this picture of me by a penguin picture.

Here is Serra and Alex by penguin photos their size.

Early in November it snowed and the kids just HAD to put on their full winter gear- for about 1/2 inch of snow! :)

Enjoying Thanksgiving dinner.

The food!

Serra and Alex patiently waiting for their feast! [these pictures were a little out of order...]

On Thanksgiving morning the kids ran their first races- they're wearing their finishers medals [and they both look SO thrilled!]

And here we are all bundled up for Mommy & Daddy's Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 5k- it was super fun!